


We're at Coachella!

by superrich



Series: What Happens on Hiatus [5]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 13:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6425641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superrich/pseuds/superrich
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall hears a familiar Northern accent behind him. It’s just not the Northern accent he was expecting to hear.</p><p>He turns to find Louis, messy fringe swept over his face, almost covering his aviator sunglasses, a fag in one hand and a six-pack of beer in the other.</p><p>“Not much of a festival without Tommo on board, right?” Louis says, slinging an arm around Niall’s neck. “Should I grab my gear from the car now? Where am I sleeping?” Louis asks.</p><p>“I guess you’re sleeping with me,” Niall sighs. He has no idea how he’s going to explain this to Harry.</p><p>[Niall makes plans to meet Harry at Coachella. Until six of his best mates, Louis, and 99,000 other people get in the way.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	We're at Coachella!

**Author's Note:**

> In which this series completely diverges from real life events, and becomes pure wish fulfilment on my part. I actually started writing this before any of the other instalments, and I’m publishing it now, before Coachella, so I don’t feel obligated to incorporate anything that actually happens over the Coachella weekends into it. Because I’m pretty sure I’ll prefer my version of events. Although I’d be happy to be proven wrong.

 

“I have good news and bad news,” Niall says, as soon as Harry answers the call. “Or possibly, bad news and bad news, depending on how you want to look at it.”

“If you’re telling me you can’t make it to Coachella, don’t even try to sugarcoat it,” Harry warns.

“No, no, no, that’s not it, it’s the opposite, really. I will 100% be there,” Niall assures him. “Just with a few more people. The boys are coming too.”

“Oh, OK,” Harry says slowly, like he’s trying to get his head around it. “Is that the good news or the bad news? Just kidding, I’m kidding! I love your mates. They’ll be good craic.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’ll be grand,” Niall says, almost like he’s trying to convince himself. “It’s just that, Eoghan’s organised a house for us all.”

“Oh, alright, yeah, I mean, of course you’re going to want to stay with them...” Harry says, trailing off. “I was just kind of hoping you’d stay with me, at Jeff’s house.”

“So was I, to be honest. And maybe I still can, unofficially like, I’ll just need to put in some time at the house with the lads too.”

“Yeah, of course, don’t worry, Ni, we’ll make it work. I mean, it’s a music festival. It was never going to be  a romantic weekend for just the two of us, was it?”

“Just you, me, six of my best mates, and 99,000 other people, right?” Niall jokes.

“Hey, Ni,” Harry says, and hesitates for a moment. “Do your mates know about us?”

“Yeah, of course they know, it’s not a secret right? I think I told them about 3 seconds after I got to Bali.”

“Good,” Harry says, sounding very happy. “I hate secrets.”

∞∞∞∞

There’s no way to say that it’s easier to charter a private jet than to fly commercial without sounding like a nob, but it’s kind of true. It turns out everyone is going to be flying out of London at the same time, and trying to coordinate flights and schedules gets all too complicated, so Niall just thinks, fuck it, and springs for the jet. It’s stupidly expensive, but still within his budget for the hiatus. He has to keep reminding himself that he has more money than he’s had time to spend it over the last few years, and that he shouldn’t feel guilty about finally having a chance to splash some around.

They fly out early Thursday morning, stop to refuel on the east coast, and land in Palm Springs mid-afternoon. As Niall steps out of the jet, swapping spectacles for sunglasses, he’s blasted with hot, desert air, like a hair dryer on medium speed. He’s equal parts happy to have escaped the London chill and already looking forward to getting back into air-conditioning.

Fortunately, he’d arranged for his cars to be brought up from LA, and they’re already waiting on the edge of the tarmac. They’ll keep the drivers for the weekend, so no one needs to worry about driving under the influence. Which is just as well, because they’ve already knocked back more than a couple of cases of beer on the flight. Starting the lads holiday off right.

Niall snaps a picture of the delightfully retro ‘Welcome to Palm Springs’ sign as they pull out of the airport, and sends it to Harry: _made it ! *grinning face emoji* *palm tree emoji*_

Harry texts back a few minutes later: _Welcome back to the land of the free, etc! Leaving LA soon, will call you when we get to Jeff’s x_

∞∞∞∞

“Son, you did good,” Niall says, slapping Eoghan on the back as they step out of the house and wander over to the pool.

“Who are ya callin’ son?” Eoghan laughs. “I’m always gonna have a good 10 years on ya!”

“Even if you don’t act it, most of the time,” Niall laughs back at him. “I just want to say, before we all get too drunk, thanks for organising the house. It’s perfect.”

It’s up just a little into the foothills, a mid-century modern design, laid out in a wide V-shape, with floor-to-ceiling windows granting each of the rooms a view of the swimming pool, and of Palm Springs beyond it. The other lads are bunking two to a room, but Niall has a room to himself. He was paying for most of the house. And there was a good chance Harry could end up staying over, so Niall hadn’t protested too much when they’d insisted he take the master bedroom.

There’s one fridge already fully stocked with food, and another fridge with enough alcohol to last them a week – which almost seems like a challenge to the Irish lads, to see if they can get through it all in four days. Can’t let anything go to waste.

True to form, Deo already has a bucket of beers on ice set up by the pool, and he hands them each a bottle when they join him there.

“Lads, lads, lads!” Niall calls out to the other boys. “Gather around, there’s something I want to say before we get stuck into it.”

He makes sure everyone has a beer before launching into his speech.

“There’s something my da used to always tell me when I was growing up, and it’s always stuck with me. He said, son, there are all sorts of ships on the sea...”

Everyone collectively groans. They’ve heard this speech before. Many, many times before. Niall’s usually very, very drunk when he makes it, and even though he’s only mildly buzzed right now, it seems like an appropriate way to kick off the festival weekend.

“There are big ships and small ships, long ships and tall ships, cargo ships and cruise ships,” Niall goes on.

“Space ships?” Martin suggests.

“Well, yes, that is another type of ship,” Niall nods. “Not so many of them on the _sea_ , but thanks for the audience participation, Marty. Appreciate it.”

“There are fast ships and slow ships, fishing ships and battle ships, steel ships and wooden ships,” Niall continues. “But the most important ship of all is...”

He looks around at the others expectantly, and when he raises his bottle, they all chorus, “friendship!”.

“And you lads are the best friends a boy could ask for,” Niall goes on. “We’ve had some bloody good craic over the years, and I’d like to think that our friendship is unsinkable. I’ve always dreamed of coming to Coachella, at least since I was old enough to know what it was, and I couldn’t be happier to be spending my first Coachella with you all. Cheers to making this weekend one for the history books!”

“And cheers to Bobby Horan’s words of wisdom!” Deo adds.

Much clinking of bottles ensues, until Niall hears a familiar Northern accent behind him. It’s just not the Northern accent he was expecting to hear.

“Niall, we’re in the middle of the bloody desert! Save your ship speech for when you can at least see the ocean, you twat.”

Niall turns to find Louis behind him, messy fringe swept over his face, almost covering his aviator sunglasses, a fag in one hand and a six-pack of beer in the other.

“Tommo! What the...?” Niall splutters.

“Don’t look so surprised!” Louis snaps. “You’re the one who invited me.”

Had he, though? Niall tries to think back to the last time he saw Lou. They’d been out at some club in West Hollywood. They’d been pretty wasted. He vaguely remembers mentioning Coachella, but doesn’t remember it being in the form of an invitation. And he has no idea how Louis found out where they were staying. 

“Not much of a festival without Tommo on board, right?” Louis says, slinging an arm around Niall’s neck.

Niall wrinkles his nose at the cigarette smoke, and grabs Louis’ wrist to move the cigarette further away from his face.

“Indeed,” Niall agrees. “Great to see you, Lou.” And if Niall is grinning through slightly clenched teeth, Louis doesn’t seem to notice.

“Should I grab my gear from the car now? Where am I sleeping?” Louis asks.

“I guess you’re sleeping with me,” Niall sighs. He has no idea how he’s going to explain this to Harry.

∞∞∞∞

Several more beers and a swim later, Niall is in the ensuite, getting ready for dinner, the door to the bedroom open so he can talk to Louis as he showers.

“Mate, you on your own this weekend?” Niall calls out to him. It’s one thing to share a bed with Louis, even if it’s not the bandmate who he thought he’d be sharing with tonight. It’s a king size bed, there’s plenty of room. But it would be another thing entirely if Oli was about to turn up and join them.

“Too right, I am,” Louis calls back to him. “Freddo’s with Bri, and Dani’s shooting until Saturday, but she said she’d try to get out here on Sunday if she can. Lottie and Tommy are around somewhere, I think they’re camping, so we’ll probably see them tomorrow. But really, you’ve got me all to yourself, Nialler! Lucky you. It’s been far too long since we’ve had some quality Nouis time, as the fans like to say, right?”

Niall resists the urge to point out that he also has six of his best mates to juggle this weekend, which might cut into their quality time together. And a new boyfriend, but Louis doesn’t know about that.

“Niall! Your phone’s ringing, want me to answer it? It’s... Harry.”

“No, no, no!” Niall calls out, but Louis is already speaking into the phone.

He turns off the water in the shower, and tries to listen into the conversation, but can’t pick up anything Louis is saying.

When he emerges from the bathroom a few minutes later, one towel wrapped around his waist and another in his hands, Louis is still lying back on the bed, looking up at his phone, a small smile playing on his lips.

“What did Harry want?” Niall asks, trying to sound casual, as he finishes drying his hair.

“Just said he didn’t think he’d be able to make it to dinner after all, that he’d see you tomorrow,” Louis says, as he continues to scroll through something on his phone.

“Oh,” Niall says, trying not to sound too disappointed. He’d been _really_ looking forward to seeing Harry tonight. As in, thinking about it non-stop for at least the past week.

“You know, just Harry being Harry, flaking out on us, standard,” Louis adds, shrugging.

Niall instinctively wants to defend Harry, but it is kind of true. At least when it comes to Louis. There’s been a simmering tension between the two of them for at least a couple of years now, ever since that video of Louis and Zayn smoking up in Peru ‘accidentally’ leaked. It had led to a full-blown yelling match backstage in Sunderland, Harry calling Louis juvenile, selfish and irresponsible, among other choice words, and Louis calling Harry a pretentious show pony who holds others to impossibly high standards.

They hadn’t been able to get past that fight, and since then Harry has always been quick to beg off plans which involve Louis. The irony that a significant portion of their fans are convinced they are secretly in love when they can barely stand to be on the same stage together is not lost on anyone involved with the band.

“Come on, then, get dressed. I’m starving,” Louis says, finally looking up from his phone, and Niall notices the dark, dark circles under his eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses earlier. It doesn’t look like he’s had much sleep over the past few months. Maybe they do need some quality Nouis time.

∞∞∞∞

They eat outside by the pool, grilled steak and corn and roast potatoes, washed down with a generous amount of beer and wine. The lights of Palm Springs sparkle below, while the mountains rise cool and dark above them.

After dinner, Niall brings out a cake for Eoghan, which he’d organised in advance – it’s his birthday tomorrow, but who knows if there’ll be a chance for cake amid the festival madness. Louis leads everyone in a rousing rendition of the Stevie Wonder version of ‘Happy Birthday’. Louis then attempts to lead everyone out clubbing, but jetlag is hitting hard, and the other lads beg off, wanting to save their energy for Coachella.

It’s after 11 by the time Niall has a chance to slip away and call Harry. He goes into his room to make the call, only to find Louis passed out face down on the bed. He moves to switch the light off and leave quietly when Louis mumbles into the bed.

“I’m not asleep. Wish I was, but I’m not. You can stay, if you want.”

Louis grunts as he rolls over onto his back, but doesn’t open his eyes.

Niall sits on the edge of the bed, and rubs Louis’ shoulder.

“Mate, you OK?” he asks.

Louis shakes his head slowly, then opens his eyes to look up at Niall through his eyelashes. “Feels like I haven’t slept in months.”

“Sounds like tough work, being a dad,” Niall says. He’s pretty sure Greg is still trying to catch up on his sleep deficit from when Theo was just a wee little bub.

“You’ve no idea, Niall,” Louis sighs, closing his eyes again. “Makes singing in front of 70,000 people a night seem easy by comparison.”

“It’ll get easier, Lou,” Niall says, continuing to rub his shoulder. “The first few months must be the hardest, right? At some point, he’ll start sleeping through the night, and then you will too.”

“It’s not that, though,” Louis says, at barely above a whisper. “I only have Fred half the time, and I sleep better when he’s with me than when he’s with Bri. It’s the nightmares that are doing my head in.”

“The what?” Niall asks, not sure if he heard right.

“The fucking nightmares,” Louis says. “They don’t tell you about the nightmares in any of those preparing for parenthood books.”

Niall tries to imagine Louis reading a parenthood book, but he really can’t. He can’t think of the last time he saw Louis reading any sort of book, to be honest. Maybe it was an audio book.

“It’s non-stop, Niall.  Every time I close my eyes, it’s the same thing.”

“What is it?” Niall asks.

“They’re coming for him.”

“What, for Freddie? Who’s coming for him?”

“I don’t know. Bad people. They wanna try and take him away from me.”

“Oh, Lou,” Niall sighs, “that sounds terrible. But it’s just a dream. It’s just a bad dream.”

“Is it, though?” Louis asks. “Have you heard about these express kidnappings? It happens all the time, apparently. To celebrity kids. I had no idea. Because everyone wants to keep it quiet. Pay up quick, and keep it out of the press. But it happens all the time. Jessica Simpson, Nicole Richie, that girl from How I Met Your Mother...”  
  
“Lou, I don’t... I don’t know, this all sounds a little...”

“Don’t you fucking dare call me crazy, Niall Horan,” Louis growls. “It’s true. All of it. One of Dani’s friends was telling me about it. And then I looked it up online. This shit happens.”

Niall genuinely doesn’t know what to say that won’t make Louis angrier, so he let’s him go on.

“And the thing is, I know I could take anyone who tried to touch Fred. I’d slit their fucking throats, I would. They’d have to be mad to come at me. But what if they go after Bri? She’s not going to know what to do. She’s a soft target. And that’s part of why I want to take him back home. He’ll be safer in England. But Bri won’t have a bar of it.”

Niall tries to imagine Louis laying out his case in a lawyer’s office, as they negotiate the terms of custody. There’s no possible scenario where this ends well for Louis.

“Lou, do you have anyone else to talk to about this? Like, a professional?”

“I don’t need a fucking therapist, Niall. I just need a good night’s sleep.”

“Look, I think it would help. It really helped me, when I was dealing with, you know, that anxiety stuff.”

“I’ll tell you what helps,” Louis says, reaching for a pack of cigarettes on the bedside table. He opens it up and pulls out a joint. “Do you mind?”

Niall wants to say that rather than helping, the smoking is probably making things worse, but he knows exactly how Louis will react to that. So he just shrugs. “Just, take it outside, I guess.”

“Want some?” Louis asks, as he stumbles to his feet.

Niall shakes his head. “Gotta make a call,” he says, holding up his phone.

Louis slips out the sliding door, and Niall finally, finally, has a chance to call Harry back.

“Hiya,” Harry answers softly, as Niall lies down flat on his back on the bed, and closes his eyes.

“Missed you tonight,” Niall says.

“Me too. I’m sorry I didn’t come over. I just... I wasn’t expecting Louis to be there.”

“Yeah, neither was I, was a bit of a surprise for me too.”

“Does he know about us?” Harry asks.

“No, not from me,” Niall replies. “Unless you...”

“No, not from me either,” Harry adds quickly.

“I thought you hated secrets.”

“It’s not that, it’s not that I’ve been trying to keep it a secret from him, it’s just, I haven’t really seen him.”

“Harry,” Niall says, with a tone of mild admonishment. “You’ve been in the same city as him for most of the last few months.”

“Yeah, I know, I just, it’s complicated, you know that.”

“He’s having a rough time, Harry. I think he kind of needs us around.”

“Is he here for the weekend?”

“Yeah, looks like it.”

“OK, we’ll find a time to talk. We can tell him about us together, yeah?”

“Sounds good. Hey, I know it’s late, but maybe I could still come over...”

“Ni, you sound shattered. What is it, like 7am London time now? Why don’t you catch up on sleep tonight, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Niall says, already starting to drift off into sleep. “Was just really looking forward to seeing you tonight.”

“Me too. But I’ll make it up to you. I promise. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Niall falls alseep with the phone still pressed to his ear.

∞∞∞∞

Late Friday afternoon, and the sun is beating down savagely on the festival grounds. The VIP area next to the main stage offers some respite, and marginally shorter lines for drinks, and Niall is at the bar with Louis ordering another round of beers for the lads. It’s been a fun afternoon so far, they’ve seen some great bands, a few that Niall had been wanting to see for years and others that were complete surprise packages. But there’s one big thing missing: Harry.

“Ni, I’m going to have to take your phone off you if you don’t stop checking it every 30 seconds,” Louis warns, as they wait for the drinks.

Niall clicks it to locked, slips it into the back pocket of his denim shorts, and holds his hands up in surrender. It’s just that he’s been trying to get through to Harry since he got here, but his phone keeps going to voicemail and he hasn’t replied to any of Niall’s messages.

“Chin up, buttercup,” Louis says, poking Niall’s cheek where his dimple would be, if he would only crack a smile. “We’ll find him. I mean, it’s Harry. He’s probably in a peacock-print jumpsuit and Willy Wonka sunglasses. He’s going to be hard to miss.”

They’re carrying the drinks back to the lads when Niall hears a familiar voice calling his name.

He turns to see Nick Grimshaw on a lounge, alongside several members of his London clique, long legs in short shorts stretched out in front of him. He’s dyed his hair blonde since the last time Niall saw him, and has a sort of Bieber-esque quiff going on. It should look ridiculous on someone his age, but he somehow manages to pull it off.

“Hiya Niall Horan! My most favourite Irish popstar! Come say hi!”

“Grimmy! Good to see ya, mate,” Niall grins, finally popping a dimple. He’s not sure if he should bend down to give him a hug or a kiss, but he’s still carrying a tray of beers, so he settles for perching on the arm of the sofa, a little awkwardly, and resting the tray on his lap.

“What’s the craic?” Niall asks.

“Was just talking to someone who’s very, very, very keen to find you,” Nick replies, grinning back at him.

“He’s here, then?” Niall asks, looking around, expectantly.

“Just missed him, I’m afraid. I think he said he was off to see Courtney Barnett.”

“Dammit,” Niall says. “Been trying to find him all afternoon, hasn’t answered any of my calls.”

“Well, he’s going to have a lot of missed calls when he gets home tonight, because he left his phone back at the house,” Nick says, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “Silly billy.”

“Idiot,” Niall agrees.

Nick reaches out a hand to rub Niall’s knee, reassuringly. “Hey, don’t worry, you’ll find each other. Maybe try Jeff’s phone?”

Niall reaches into his back pocket to pull out his phone, careful not to tip the tray of beers as he does it. He bites his bottom lip, dry and cracked from the sun, as he scrolls through his contacts one-handed, looking for Jeff.

“Fuck, I don’t have Jeff’s number.”

“Why don’t you go over to the Mojave stage, see if you can find him there?”

Niall nods, still biting his lip. “Do you remember what he’s wearing?”

“Alas I think he’s trying to keep a low profile, no Gucci ensemble today. Just a white t-shirt and shorts, I think. Hair tied back. Sunglasses. Not the Willy Wonka ones.”

“OK, I guess I’ll head over there. But if you see him before I do, let him know that I’m looking for him, will ya?”

“ _Of course_ I will,” Nick assures him, squeezing Niall’s knee again.

“Good to see ya, Grim, I’ll catch ya ‘round,” Niall says, as he stands up and heads back in the direction of the lads, the tray of once-cold beers already unpleasantly warm in the desert heat.

∞∞∞∞

Niall manages to drag Deo over to Courtney Barnett with him, but the stage is packed, and Niall realises it’s a lost cause to try and find Harry among the thousands of people in the audience. They stay for the end of her set anyway, and then head back to find the other lads and regroup. They’ve lost Louis to Lottie and her group of friends, but everyone else is in fine form.

Dusk lends a soft glow to the desert sky as the lights of the festival grounds start to blink on. But as night falls Niall resigns himself to the fact that it’s going to be impossible to find Harry tonight, in the dark. They’ve been in the same place for almost 24 hours and he still hasn’t seen Harry. It’s killing him. But he tries to put it out of his mind, and focus on having a cracking good time with the lads.

Several rounds of beers later, and they’re down close to the main stage, waiting for Years & Years to come on. Niall’s in the middle of telling Eoghan about seeing them at Glastonbury last year when he feels an arm wrap around his waist and a chin rest on his shoulder. He breaks into a huge smile as he leans back into the warm body behind him, and breathes in the familiar smell of Tom Ford cologne. And sweat. A lot of sweat.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Harry whispers into Niall’s ear, then quickly kisses his neck.

Niall turns around slowly and locks eyes with Harry, and time seems to stand still for a moment as the two of them grin at each other. Cheers break out all around them as Years & Years take to the stage, and launch into Shine. Niall brings his hands up to Harry’s shoulders, and yells at him over the music, “we’re at Coachella!”

“What?” Harry yells back, still grinning like a madman. “I can’t hear you!”

“I said, we’re at Coachella!”

Harry gets it this time, and then they’re both jumping up and down and repeating the chant, “We’re at Coachella! We’re at Coachella! We’re at Coachella!”

Eventually Harry pulls him into a hug, and Niall closes his eyes and tries to commit this to memory. He’s been blessed with a lot of magical moments over the past few years, more than most people get in a lifetime, but this one is definitely in the top 10. Maybe even in the top 5.

∞∞∞∞

Niall ends up at back at Jeff’s house that night, reluctant to leave Harry’s side now that they’ve found each other. They’re both exhausted from the dancing and the heat and being on their feet for hours on end. They strip off as soon as they get into Harry’s room and make for the shower. Layers of dust and sweat wash away as Niall finally has a chance to kiss Harry the way he’s been wanting to all night. The way he’s been thinking about for weeks, really, since they last saw each other in London. This quickly leads to heavy grinding, until Harry takes them both in his hand, and pulls them off together. Niall slumps into Harry’s shoulder as he comes, his legs gone weak beneath him, seeing stars each time he blinks his eyes. They crawl into bed together naked, and Niall presses himself against Harry’s back, falls alseep with his lips on Harry’s shoulder, an arm slung around his waist.

They sleep until late the next morning. Niall wakes up sublimely happy, and it takes him a few moments to remember why. As the long, smooth body stretched out next to him comes into focus, slightly damp hair spread out on the pillow beside him, Niall smiles and leans in to kiss Harry’s neck. When Harry doesn’t stir, Niall slips out of bed and goes into the bathroom to pee and to brush his teeth. He comes back into the room to find Harry half awake, arms stretched above him like he’s trying to pull himself out of sleep and into the day.

“Good morning,” Niall says, grinning at him.

Harry yawns deeply, and then just smiles at Niall for a long moment, like he’s not quite awake enough yet to formulate a sentence. Eventually he finds his voice.

“I can’t think of a better way to start the day than to find you naked in my bedroom,” Harry says slowly.

Niall smiles as he kicks at the pile of clothes he tossed on the floor last night. He picks up the t-shirt, holds it up to his nose and quickly drops it on the floor again, a look of utter disgust on his face.

“Pet, I think I’m going to have to borrow some clothes, if you’re going to want be anywhere near me today,” Niall says, already opening up the wardrobe to peek at what’s inside.

“Of course,” Harry says, smiling at him from the bed. “I don’t just want to be near you, I want to be all over you. Help yourself to whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?” Niall repeats, raising an eyebrow as he holds up Harry’s favourite Rolling Stones t-shirt.

“Well, you could wear that,” Harry says, smirking, “or you could take out a giant billboard saying Niall Horan is shagging Harry Styles. The billboard might be slightly less obvious.”

Niall laughs as he puts the t-shirt back. “It would be one way to break the news to Louis, though.”

He pulls out a pair of pants and some navy blue shorts and pulls them on. They’re shorter than he’d normally wear, but he can’t help but enjoy the look Harry shoots his way as he bends over to pick his stinky clothes off the floor and fold them over the back of a chair.

“Has anyone ever told you your legs are magnificent, Niall Horan?” Harry asks, as he pulls himself up to a sitting position in bed.

“No! Never! Are you mad?” Niall says, laughing again. “These chicken legs?”

“Magnificent, I tell you,” Harry says, grinning at him.

“Tell me again,” Niall says, as he walks over to the bed and climbs into Harry’s lap, wrapping his legs tightly around Harry’s waist. Harry pulls his knees up, and Niall leans back into them slightly.

“Magnificent legs,” Harry repeats, as he starts stroking Niall’s thighs, working his way up under the short shorts. “Magnificent chest,” he says, as he leans in to nose at the hair on Niall’s chest, and then licks over his left nipple.

Niall swallows deeply, and then gently pushes Harry away with his palm.

“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but we really do need to go and talk to Louis,” Niall says reluctantly.

Harry leans back as he scrunches up his face, and runs a hand through his hair.

“Really? Do we have to?” he almost whines to Niall.

Niall nods sagely, and then unwraps himself from around Harry.

“To be continued, though?” Harry says, grabbing Niall’s hand.

“Definitely,” Niall smiles, and leans in for a quick kiss before he gets up from the bed.

∞∞∞∞

Niall fills Harry in on the Louis situation as they drive over to the lads’ house.

“Shit,” Harry says, “sounds like he’s having a really rough time of it. Any idea what we can do to help?”

“I really think he needs to talk to a therapist or something, someone who knows what they’re talking about,” Niall says. “I just don’t know how to convince him to do that. You know what he’s like, stubborn as an ox.”

“Do you think maybe he’d listen to Simon?” Harry asks.

Niall thinks it over for a moment. “Actually, that’s a really good idea. He does look up to Simon.”

“And Simon might have some father-to-father wisdom to impart,” Harry adds.

“Guess I’m giving Uncle Si a call when I get home,” Niall goes on.

“Well, he’s not exactly taking calls from me at the moment,” Harry says.

“How’s everything going with Jeff, anyway?” Niall asks.

“Good. Really good,” Harry says. “Getting ready to officially launch the company soon. You know, it’s not too late to come and join us. Tommy would take very good care of you.”

“Nah, I’m good where I am, thanks. Modest have been pretty good to me. Better the devil you know and all that.”

Harry shrugs. “If you ever change your mind, you know where to find me.”

∞∞∞∞

When they get to the house, they find Louis alone in the kitchen, pouring himself a bowl of Cocoa Pops.

“Well, well, well,” Louis says, “if it isn’t the ultimate pop power couple. Looking well-shagged, I must say.”

Niall and Harry turn to look at each other, eyebrows raised, and then look back at Louis.

“Who told you?” Niall asks. Bet it was Eoghan, he thinks to himself. It’s not like he’d told the other lads to keep it a secret.

“ _You_ told me, you twat,” Louis says, as he spoons cereal into his mouth.

Niall and Harry turn to look at each other again, and Harry starts laughing.

“God, you really are a hopeless drunk, Horan,” Louis says, shaking his head. “Do you genuinely not remember anything from that night out?”

Niall rubs his face and tries to think back to early March, but that night is pretty hazy.

“I kissed Harry! Come to Coachella! I’ll just pee in the carpark, no one will see me!” Louis says in his impression of an Irish accent. It’s actually not a bad generic impression, even if it doesn’t sound much like Niall at all.

“Well, this was easier than I thought it was going to be,” Harry says, laughing.

Louis sighs, puts his bowl down and slings an arm around Niall’s neck. “I’ll tell you again what I told you then: it took you two long enough, but you got there in the end. And I’m happy for you. Not that you need my blessing or anything.”

Louis releases Niall, and makes a move to ruffle his hair, but Niall ducks before he can get a hand on it.

 “Kind of nice all four of us are loved up for a change, innit?” Louis says, as he goes back to his cereal.

∞∞∞∞

Saturday at Coachella is even better than Friday, because Niall has Harry by his side the entire time, and he knows exactly who he’s going home with at the end of the night. Their group expands to include Harry’s LA crew and Nick’s London clique, and somehow everyone gets along smashingly. Niall even overhears Harry talking with Louis at the bar, tentatively making plans to meet Freddie, and for the first time in forever he thinks that Harry and Louis might just be able to sort their shit out over the hiatus.

Ellie slips Niall a couple of backstage passes for her set, and Harry and Niall watch her perform from the side of stage.

“Do you miss this?” Harry asks, as they look out over the tens of thousands of people in front of the stage, all eyes on Ellie.

Niall nods and smiles at Harry. “Every day.”

“Yeah, me too.”

By the time Sunday rolls around, Niall is pretty sure they’ve won at Coachella. As in, no one in the history of the festival has ever had as much fun as they’re having.

Niall and Harry sneak off before Calvin Harris closes out Sunday night, and end up back at the lads’ house, where Niall finally gets to do something he’s been dreaming about since January: Harry. Niall’s nervous, like he always is when he finds himself a little out of his depth, but Harry talks him through it, assures him he’s doing great, tells him over and over again that he’s incredible.

As much as Niall has thought about what it would be like in an abstract sense, the reality of being inside of Harry, of feeling him tight and hot around him, of seeing his eyes clenched shut and jaw wide open, of hearing the moans erupting from his throat, it’s all so much more than he ever could have imagined. He’s not quite sure how he got here, but he knows for sure that this is exactly where he was always supposed to end up.

∞∞∞∞

They sleep straight through the tee time they’d booked for Monday morning, and in the end they decide to skip golf. The lads aren’t flying out until late that night, and Eoghan has invited just about everyone they met at Coachella to come over for a post-festival recovery pool party, which involves a plan to work their way through all of the alcohol that’s still left in the house.

After a late barbecue lunch, Harry informs everyone that he’s stealing Niall away for a few hours, that he’d promised to make something up to him. Niall tries not to blush too hard at all of the innuendo and knowing winks thrown their way.  And although Niall would have quite happily accepted sexual favours, Harry has other plans to make amends for missing dinner on Thursday night.

He won’t tell Niall where they’re going, just advises him to bring a jacket, which seems ridiculous considering how hot it is out. But Niall grabs his Paul Smith jacket, knowing how much Harry loves it on him. And because it’s basically the only jacket he brought with him to the desert.

It all starts to make sense when Harry pulls into the parking lot of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Niall cranes his neck up to take in the canyon wall, and can just make out a tiny tramcar at the very top.

“We’re going up there?” he asks, a little overawed by the mountains towering above them.

Harry smiles and nods, before grabbing his white Fred Perry jacket from the back of the car. He takes Niall’s hand in his own as they walk up to the tramway station. They have to wait about 15 minutes for the next tramcar, during which time a few girls approach them to politely ask for photos, but after that they’re left alone.

As they board the tramcar, a pre-recorded messages announces that they’ll be ascending 6,000 feet up into the San Jacinto Mountains over the next 10 minutes. They snag a spot at the back of the car, shoulders pressed together as they gaze out the window at the cliff face in front of them. The tramcar starts to climb and slowly rotate, so by the time they’re half way up the mountain they have a view over the Coachella valley stretching out before them, the city of Palm Springs below them getting smaller by the second.

“Pretty impressive, hey?” Harry says, smiling at him, and then hooks his pinkie through Niall’s as he turns back to look at the view, a soft smile playing on his lips.

“Incredible,” Niall agrees.

It’s cool when they get out at the top, and they pull on their jackets against the chill of the late afternoon air. There’s snow covering the ground beneath the cypress trees, and a cafeteria, done up like a kitschy Swiss chalet. They buy weak coffee in paper cups before heading outside to the viewing platform, and finding a spot where they can be alone together and take in the view.

“Sorry I couldn’t make it out to LA before Coachella,” Niall says. “I really tried, but this golf stuff is taking up a lot more time than I thought it would.”

“Hey, you don’t need to apologise,” Harry says, and takes a sip from his cup. “We’ve both got our own commitments, we’ve just got to try to work around that.”

Niall bites his lip and nods.

“But you are enjoying the golf stuff, right?” Harry goes on.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s grand,” Niall says. “Not quite sure what I’m doing, but just going along with what they need from me.”

“What about music?” Harry asks. “Have you been writing?”

“Nah, I haven’t had much time for it, to be honest, with everything else going on.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Yeah, of course I do, but there’ll be plenty of time to work on new material over the hiatus, before we get back together.”

“I guess so,” Harry says, “but there’s nothing to stop you from working on something just for yourself, too.”

Niall snorts softly. “You may not have noticed, but I don’t exactly have record labels beating down my door, trying to offer me a solo deal.”

“Well, you should,” Harry says. “And maybe that’s why you need a change in management. Because I honestly think you’d be great as a solo artist. Or maybe with your own band.  The next Coldplay. Or U2. Filling stadiums around the world.”

Niall snorts again. “We’re already filling stadiums. As One Direction. Not many people get to do that with one band, let alone two.”

“Yeah, but we’re never going to win Grammys as One Direction,” Harry goes on. “We’re never going to play Coachella, or Glastonbury.  I don’t care if it’s greedy, but I want all of that. I want it all.”

“Is this your way of saying you’re not coming back after the hiatus?” Niall asks.

“Fuck, no, Niall, you know that’s not it. You know that I’m committed to coming back. 100%. It’s just not the only thing that I’m committed to.”

Harry sighs deeply, then goes on. “The things is, we’re already a real band. Even if most people see us as just a boy band. We just have four lead singers. And we need to write songs that work for four different voices. And that four of us can agree on. And it means that at any given time, three of us are wandering around on stage with nothing to do. Despite all of that, I wouldn’t swap these last six years for anything. But it’s been all-consuming, hasn’t it? And I think, as we grow up, maybe it will become more of a side project for us. Maybe we’ll keep coming back together every few years, for as long as the fans want us. But I can’t imagine doing a new album year after year after year, back-to-back world tours without a break.”

“Sounds like you’ve been thinking about this a lot.”

“Well, yeah, of course I have. That’s kind of what the hiatus is for, right?”

Niall suddenly feels like he hasn’t done much thinking at all yet, at least not about the important things, like what he’s going to do with the rest of his life.

“Anyway, what I’m trying to say is: I know how much you love being up on stage with a guitar in your hands. You are my favourite person to watch perform. The songs that you wrote on AM were insanely good. You have excellent connections in the industry. Everyone wants to work with you. And you are universally adored. The only thing stopping you from a solo career is you. And maybe Modest. But you need to decide if you want it first.”

“Wow, OK, I guess I have some thinking to do.” He crumples his empty coffee cup in his hand, and has a sudden urge to throw it off the edge of the mountain, watch it fall 6,000 feet to the desert floor.

“Hey, let me take that,” Harry says, grabbing the cup from him and walking over to the bin to toss both their cups in.

The wind is starting to pick up, and Niall zips his jacket up to his neck to try to keep out the cold. When Harry walks back over, he wraps an arm around Niall’s shoulders, and they stare out over the valley together.

“Makes you feel pretty small, doesn’t it?” Niall says.

Harry just nods, and they stay like that for a long time in comfortable silence, contemplating life, the universe and everything.

Eventually Harry breaks the silence: “Question: if you could live in any place or time, where would you live?”

“That sounds like an interview question, Styles. Actually, I’m sure we’ve been asked that before. Didn’t Payno say he’d live with the dinosaurs or something?”

Harry answers the question for himself. “I’d live in early 1960s Palm Springs. The Rat Pack era. Beautiful houses, beautiful cars, beautiful clothes, beautiful people. Play golf all day, drink martinis with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr at night.”

“Oh, you’re a member of the Rat Pack in this scenario, are ya?” Niall says, laughing.

“Yep, we both are. Jumping up on stage for impromptu performances with Dean Martin.”

“You wouldn’t be able to get away with this hippy haircut,” Niall says, smiling, as he runs his hand through Harry’s hair.

Harry shrugs. “Not that attached to it.”

“Probably wouldn’t be quite so easy for us to be dating back then.”

“Well, that would be a problem, because that’s something I am getting quite attached to,” Harry says, leaning in to kiss Niall’s neck.

“I’m pretty happy with the time we’re in right now, to be honest,” Niall says. “Worked out alright for us, hasn’t it? But if I could live anywhere in the world... maybe Rio de Janiero. Christ, that was an amazing city. I feel like we barely scratched the surface of it, though.”

“Do you think you’ll go back?” Harry asks.

“I’d like to, one day. Isn’t there some sort of epidemic going on down there? Probably not the best time to go right now. One day, though.”

“One day, maybe, with me?” Harry asks, smiling hopefully.

 “I’d like that a lot,” Niall says, smiling back at him.

“Me too,” Harry grins, pulling his arm tighter around Niall.

“I guess we should get going, before it gets dark,” Niall sighs.

“Hey, are you forgetting something?” Harry asks.

Niall just shrugs, frowns slightly and shakes his head.

“I thought maybe you’d want a selfie of the two of us, up here?”

Niall starts laughing. “I think what you’re trying to say is that you want a selfie, right?”

“No,” Harry says, defensively. “I just want to make sure that you don’t realise later that you forgot to take one, and regret it.”

Niall rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Hey Harry, before we go, let’s take a selfie!” Niall says, with mock enthusiasm.

“Look, I guess so, if you really want one,” Harry says, shrugging, but then breaks into a big grin.

Niall pulls out his phone and snaps some pictures with the valley behind them, Harry’s head resting on Niall’s shoulder, his hair blowing all over the place in the wind. Niall has no regrets.

∞∞∞∞

When Niall lands back in London, he has a message from Louis – a heart emoji and a bird emoji, followed by a link to a Buzzfeed article, Top 10 Cutest Coachella Moments (Weekend 1).

_#3: Best of bandmates both on and off stage,  One Direction members Harry Styles and Niall Horan were seen everywhere together at Coachella, with smiles so big they made all of our happiness seem dull. Looks like their bromance is stronger than ever despite the band’s hiatus. We couldn’t be happier for them._

The accompanying slideshow features multiple photos of Harry casually draped around Niall, all smiles and heart-eyes between the two of them.

Niall saves a couple of the photos to his phone.

As he’s typing out a reply to Louis, a message comes through from Liam with a link to Twitter: _it’s never gonna die, is it? But they’re talking to each other again?_

Niall clicks on the link to find a video just a few seconds long, shaky and slightly out of focus, Louis and Harry at the bar in the VIP section at Coachella, Harry reaching out to pat Louis’ shoulder. Hashtag PROOF. It’s already been retweeted more than 10,000 times.

He’s not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed that his relationship gets written off as a bromance, when something that’s barely a friendship gets completely misconstrued as so much more.

Instead of replying to Liam or Louis, Niall pulls up his camera roll, and flicks through the photos from Monday afternoon of Niall and Harry with the Coachella Valley stretched out below them, golden in the late afternoon light. Harry’s face is almost obscured by his hair in most of the photos, but Niall picks one which clearly shows Harry’s stupid smile. He adds a message: _#PROOF. that last weekend really happened._ _because it seemed almost too good to be true. *smiley face emoji* *heart eyes emoji*_

He clicks send, and then types a follow-up message: _meeting Simon for dinner on Thursday. to talk about Louis. And what’s next for me with Modest. Will keep you posted._

When he next checks his phone he has a string of replies from Harry:

_We were at Coachella!_

_We really were._

_I hope it’s just the first of many Coachellas together for the two of us._

_On or off stage._

_Love you x H_

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not on Tumblr but I am on Instagram. Come talk to me there:  
> [super.rich.lads](http://www.instagram.com/super.rich.lads)


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